Dont let there attennas touch you or they will move back out of reach.

Best to learn the loop it does take some time to get the art of it . I prefer a loop to using my hands anyday.

I'm not to sure about the mop trick i have heard of using a stocking but personally best off learning to use a loop.You will only lose so many crays till you will get the knack of it ;)

watch out for big scary sharks! :O

Pretty sure mops and pantyhose and that sort of shit is illegal mate.

Just a snare and practise is all you need.

No go with the gidgee then Till?

i dont think you would be aloud to spear them as you cant mesure them untill youve got them, i went for a dive today( im new to it all) and tried grabbing a fewbut it was around a rock wall and they had so much room to get away, i managed to find one under a rock and after about 5 minutes i got him wich resulted in a nicely cut up arm from the rock, only to find he was a mear 1mm under.

I can picture it now, in goes the mop, mop comes out with one very angry wobby firmly attached to it not pretty picture

Just pulling the piss with the gidgee mate. Only legal ways to catch rock lobsters inn wa whilst diving is by hand,snare or blunt hook.Snaring isnt hard at all dendending on the sort of area you are trying to pull your crays from. A trick I used to use as a kid was a small bit of fish meat pegged out or on fishing line in front of their nose untill they move out in to a better area to snare. Dont use occy because occys eat crays so it will move away from the bait. Another trick if your catching the big male jumbos out deep is to smack your snare in the sand in front of their nose, they will walk straight out to you. Mate only just let me in on that one a little while ago and it works a treat.

Cheers

Meglodon, I have a worse picture. Mop goes in, one big randy male wobby thinks its a female wobby and diver comes out of water with hole in rear of wetsuit, but no teeth marks. Thats got to hurt.

Once upon a time used the kitchen mop with success at rotto in knee deep water on school holidays, worked a treat

yeah my dad always tryed to tell me that if you use your flippers to stir up the sand it takes all the oxygene out of the water so they move out to breath, probably fullof shit though the drunk fucker he is

Using a loop is the best way for sure. I have mounted a mini-Q torch on my loop. I pass the closed loop behind the cray and then open it just a little more than the size of the cray. The trick is then to get them to walk backwards into the loop. Sometimes the bubbles from breathing out works. If I get a stubborn cray that won't move I turn on the torch and they move slowly away from the light. I am hesitant to pull the loop forward as when they feel the wire coming towards them (as opposed to them walking over it) they often bolt and shutting the loop in time becomes a little hit and miss. Hope this helps. You can't beat practise though.

Note: for all those that bitch about long posts, you dont have to read further.

Anyways, heres a list I did up a while ago for WA Divers that seems to disappeared. Some points may be useful to people just starting.

>Forget looping the first dive. Just watch your buddy and assist him. Dont even take a snare.

>Forget peak bouyancy, overload baby! I dive with a bit more weight and when i dump the air i stick to the sea floor a lot easier which is easier for craying. Of course make sure you dont have too much air (want to still have a bit of excess bouyancy!)

>Work out your lighting. Have one powerful but small spot torch for spotting them and another (best on your loop). I cable tie a Mini UK40 to my snare which seems to work ok. I use left hand to hold snare and move light right to operate the snare loop. May still adjust further but figure what works for you (try looping something under your bed!)

>Oddysea cray loop. The best i've used. The others arent as good. Dont bother with the ultra long one unless you know the ground needs it. Often the long ones cant easily fit into holes/caves/weird twists/etc. A lanyard is useful. Just use some cord. Its better in the left hand if you can as you'll move your right more to operate it (or vice versa).

>Try test runs at home. Figure out all your gear. How you'll attach it, what you'll do at end of dive, think through the procedures and loop some water bottles under your bed.

>When looping, slide the loop behind them and open the loop, pull it forward or let them go back until your past the tail then close it by pulling the loop (not letting it release). Keep hold of the knob until you know the cray is safe. They can pull apart a loop and escape fairly easily if you let them. If you get the loop between the tail and the carapace they cant get out by flapping. Around the body is ok, but too far forward and they can wriggle out easily.
Avoid their feelers and take it slow. When you get better you can more more swiftly.

>If a few crays around, dont bother getting one way up in a hole. Work out effort getting it re finding another easy one.

>When you've looped one, grab it by the carapace firmly. Their power can be underestimated so grip snug and put into catch bag (I like closing the bag around my hand, then releasing the cray and sliding hand out). Work them to the bottom of the bag if you can. Occasionally they escape through the top if the material moves or if putting another cray in. Try holding a buddies cray on the boat or in the water if it needs releasing to get an idea. I lost a few underestimating them. Also, dont ever crab the tail! They pinch like a MF.

>Dont be afraid to grab them if you can. Move swift not slow and cautious and good grip. Good gloves help. You can also grab their feelers and slowly move down until you get to the horn and yank them out of holes. Never pull the feeler though, it'll come right off (sometimes you can gently coax them forward though)

>Feel free to corale them or entice them with a little sand puff. Sometimes one stuck in a ledge will run away somewhere nicer if you prod them a little. Work the snare behind them to coax them out of a hole too tight to open your snare. This also works to coax them back out a hole where your buddy will be waiting on the other side. Try not to disturb them if its a nest though (dont want them scaring the other crays).

>Try to see if they're berried/way undersized first before looping. Especially if multiple crays (no point going for a berried female then spooking all the other keepers)

>If you like the meat out of the shell before you cook, an ice slurry makes it much easier to separate the flesh from the shell. cut the membrane just below the carapace on both sides, grab the tail, twist one way, then the other removing the tail then split in two and pull meat off. I like this way fried with white wine and garlic

>Good buddy protocol always helps. They can grab the crays after you've looped or vice versa. You can work together to move them/trap them or shine light on it so its easier. Also, get your hand signals down pat (e.g. use the "cray" signal). I also have one for cuttlefish cause you can loop those tasty buggers too.

>And lastly: Practice, practice, PRACTICE! Get lots of dives in and once you get the first one, the next ones will start coming a lot easier. It took me a good dozen dives before I could loop more than 1 (or possibly more than 0...)

to the side of my mask, works a treat when looking under ledges free diving when you don't have the time, I found that you can move your head to get the light in the right spot, when it is on the loop, it is sometimes just off the cray when your getting in behind them.